University of Nebraska at Kearney
GENERAL STUDIES PROGRAM ASSESSMENT PLAN 06/06/05
APPENDIX 2
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT KEARNEY
GENERAL STUDIES PHILOSOPHY
Since the primary purpose of education is intellectual development, the GS Program at the UNK is designed to provide broad intellectual knowledge of the diverse academic disciplines. The liberally educated person, free to explore knowledge and wisdom from a broad perspective of human culture and experience, is able to think independently, to question, to analyze, to interpret, and to judge. To achieve these goals, the GS Program encourages students to be accurate in the use of language, not only in self-expression, but also in communication with others. The program further encourages students to inquire into the disciplines of the humanities, fine arts, mathematics, and the natural, social, and behavioral sciences. Finally, the program encourages students to become aware of the relationships which exist among the disciplines and to understand how to apply the knowledge gained to personal development as well as contemporary problems in the students' natural, social, economic and political environment.
GENERAL OBJECTIVES
Across the range of disciplines and courses offered, the GS Program is designed to develop and demonstrate the following abilities:
- the ability to locate and gather information,
- the capability for critical thinking, reasoning and analyzing,
- effective communication skills including the ability to read, speak and write effectively, using the materials, ideas, and discourse modes of specific academic areas,
- an understanding of the experiences and values of groups and cultures which have been historically under-represented.
In addition to the four general objectives noted above, there are specific objectives relevant to each of the major categories within the GS Program.
I. ENGLISH LANGUAGE
In addition to those objectives required of all GS courses, students will:
- demonstrate the ability to form and support a coherent position on an issue,
- demonstrate the ability to write and speak in a formal manner appropriate to the audience,
- demonstrate the ability to read, speak, and write "expressive" as well as "transactional" language i.e., to develop and understand the role of voice in communication as well as the message itself.
III. HUMANITIES
In addition to those objectives required of all GS courses, students will:
- demonstrate the ability to comprehend primary texts, i.e., the work of literary figures, historical figures, philosophers, and critics; film and theatrical performance; works of art; music in performance and/or notation,
- demonstrate the ability to form and support , in writing, coherent positions on issues relevant to primary texts,
- demonstrate the ability to use, in speaking and writing, the forms of reference and the manners of discourse appropriate to the particular discipline,
- demonstrate the ability to see primary texts as cultural descriptions as well as individual creation. While not all courses in the Humanities focus exclusively on primary texts, students in every course will experience, through reading, seeing, or hearing, significant cultural works and documents.
ADDITIONAL CRITERIA FOR HUMANITIES COURSES
LITERARY PERSPECTIVES
Students will demonstrate an understanding of:
imaginative literature in its cultural or historical context.
Students will demonstrate an ability to:
identify the major generic distinctions and conventions of poetry, narrative, and/or drama,
use the literary vocabularies and strategies necessary to discuss texts--orally and in writing--fluently and accurately,
apply strategies for close readings of texts, with an emphasis on how texts mean rather than what they mean.
AESTHETIC PERSPECTIVES
Students will demonstrate an ability to:
identify elements, styles, and idioms of a given art form using discipline-specific terminology and a basic working knowledge of the creative process and problem solving methods of the discipline,
place aesthetic works and/or performance events in the historical, political, social and philosophical context which gave rise to their creation,
interpret exemplary aesthetic works and/or performance events, taking into account their cultural dimension
respond to exemplary aesthetic works and/or performance events expressively and critically in forms appropriate to the discipline within the framework of established or emerging schools of criticism, method and technique.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
Students will demonstrate an ability to:
evaluate a broad range and variety of primary texts as the products of specific cultures, at particular times and places,
interpret the meaning of texts in their social, political, scientific/technological, economic, and cultural contexts,
analyze the past and its people on their own terms, through the perceptions and experiences of those who lived it,
create historical narratives that integrate change and continuity over time based on an understanding of current historiography and historical methods.
PHILOSOPHIC PERSPECTIVES
Students will demonstrate an ability to:
explain the following areas of study and their concepts: metaphysics (those things that transcend nature), epistemology (theories of knowledge), ethics (the difference between right and wrong, and good and evil) and ontology (the basic properties of existence),
discuss and analyze in oral or written form primary texts for their metaphysical, epistemological, ethical and ontological significance, not merely for their historical value or empirical claims.
IV. MATHEMATICS, STATISTICS & COMPUTER SCIENCE
In addition to those objectives required of all GS courses, students will:
- demonstrate the ability to manage and interpret numerical data using the appropriate mathematical tools,
- demonstrate the ability to express formal, mathematical relationships using logical analyses and differing forms of mathematical reasoning,
- demonstrate the ability to utilize mathematical techniques in order to define problems and to search for strategies for testing solutions.
MATHEMATICS/STATISTICS COURSES
Students will demonstrate an ability to:
apply functions and other mathematical relationships to the analysis of a wide variety of applied problems,
use one or more of a variety of mathematical methodologies, including but not limited to algebraically based deduction, statistical processes, the limit, the derivative, or the integral, to define, analyze, and solve a diverse selection of applied problems,
use the "language" of mathematics and/or statistics to effectively communicate problem analysis and solutions,
think critically and use reasoning in solving applied problems.
COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSES
Students will demonstrate an ability to:
apply algorithms, data structures and formal languages as implemented within technological systems in order to demonstrate critical thinking, analysis and problem solving.
V. NATURAL SCIENCES
In addition to those objectives of all GS courses, students will:
- demonstrate the ability to apply the logical structure of scientific methodology in the laboratory setting,
- demonstrate the ability to comprehend how scientific concepts originate, are validated and refined,
- demonstrate the ability to use the specialized vocabulary needed to understand matter and energy.
VI. SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
In addition to those objectives required of all GS courses, students will:
- demonstrate an understanding of human experiences and be able to relate them to the present,
- demonstrate the ability to understand the application of the empirical research methods used in the social sciences to understand individual behavior as well as the interrelationships among people,
- demonstrate the ability to comprehend how social scientific concepts originate, are validated and refined within a variety of social science disciplines,
- demonstrate the ability to evaluate the strengths and limitations of the social sciences and the explanations they offer for contemporary life.
ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
Students will demonstrate an understanding of:
the basic human condition of scarcity: the fact that human wants are greater than the limited resources available.
Students will demonstrate an ability to:
explain the principles and research methods used to understand individual economic behavior as well as the economic interrelationships among people.
apply economic analysis to real-world issue and events.
view, interpret, and analyze economic behavior in the context of other academic disciplines.
SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES
Students will demonstrate an understanding of:
the contribution of scientific research for explaining social behavior.
Students will demonstrate an ability to:
evaluate appropriate scientific research methods and findings,
write clear explanations in answer to sociological questions,
apply sociological frameworks to explain and predict future behavior,
analyze human behavior in their social groups and within the societal context,
ask appropriate questions about sociological factors that influence human behavior as well as locate, understand and critically evaluate sociological journal articles and those of the other social sciences perspectives,
read, comprehend sociological concepts and critically evaluate information about society and social interaction from a wide variety of sources, e.g., current events, mass media, and personal experience.
POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES
Students will demonstrate an understanding of:
what comprises "the good" political life, including the normative foundations of politics and governing,
great political questions such as those about justice, freedom, equality and war,
significant empirical political phenomena based on extensive study of the research conducted within political science proper, including electoral behavior, decision-making, attitudinal studies, international behaviors and work that reaches beyond standard behavioral explanations.
Students will demonstrate an ability to:
make reasoned judgments about political and policy issues, based upon the empirical and normative studies described above, including a critical assessment of the political setting that addresses the question of: Who gets what, when and how?
GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES
Students will demonstrate:
a knowledge of spatial distribution and spatial relationships,
an understanding of geographic methodology including the synthesis of information from diverse sources to create a holistic view, and map interpretation as the basic tool of geographic expression,
an appreciation of the world's national, regional, ethnic, religious, social, and linguistic diversity.
Students will be able to use basic geographical concepts and methodologies to understand:
the interrelationship between human activity and natural environments,
the division of earth into cultural regions, what these are like and how they are interrelated,
the complex problems of the contemporary world, such as food supply, political relations, and economic development.
BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVES
Students will demonstrate an understanding of:
how scientific research helps explain behavior in its psychological context.
Students will demonstrate an ability to:
analyze the behavior of humans (and where relevant animals) in its psychological context and be able to apply both the theoretical and empirical perspectives to describe on-going events and predict future events which involve psychological processes.
evaluate and utilize appropriate scientific methods and findings to investigate topics of interest.
formulate relevant questions about psychological effects on behavior and use appropriate library and empirical research techniques to gather answers to these questions.
read, comprehend and critically evaluate information about behavior provided in the ordinary media as well as in specialized sources of psychological information.
VII. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
In addition to those objectives required of all GS courses, students will:
- demonstrate the ability to confront the complexities--physical, emotional, economic, and/or technological--of the contemporary world.
- demonstrate the development of skills, behaviors and problem solving strategies necessary to prevail in the contemporary world.
VIII. CAPSTONE COURSE
In addition to those objectives required of all GS courses, students will:
- demonstrate the ability to use the breadth and diversity of knowledge and experience from a variety of disciplines in order to solve real world problems.
- demonstrate an understanding of cultures other than their own.
- demonstrate the understanding and knowledge needed to function responsibly in one's natural, social, and political environment.